As every Saturday we continue the countdown to Halloween. So here I am writing with a cup of warm coffee that has been enhanced with a bit of Baileys 🙂

Hallow’s eve is a holiday when we reflect upon the past. We honor it and celebrate it. Our characters are shaped according to our past experiences either bad or good. It is time to honor all those who have sadly left us, a time when we look back with a smile on our faces of all the good times they have given us, a time to honor the dead and their spirit. That is why one of the main themes of this holiday is in fact spirits and ghosts. It is considered that on Hallow’s Eve the border between the spirit world and our world in rather weak. It is believes that on Hallow’s Eve the spirits are walking this earth again and people can contact them and ask them questions. It is said that if you see a spider on that day or night is a loved one’s spirit watching over you. Of course today most people think that these are tales of fiction.. Well, I believe in the spirit world and I believe that there are certain days like Hallow’s Eve that this border is rather weak.. After all, the people who die don’t really leave us. A part of them lives in us and our actions. As humans we are shaped by other people as well, we might not be exact copies of our parents for instance but we do have inside us a bit of them that stays with us always.

Today we feature a really talented artist 🙂 One of my personal favorites. I came across her work completely by accident and it was the first time in my life that I thought that if I ever get one of her gorgeous cards, I wont have the heart to write on them. Small pieces of art that deserved to be framed and cherished. Melissa Walker of Immortal Visions paper crafts is an artist that specializes in creating gothic and dark greeting cards for every occasion. Perfect for special people and occasions.

Melissa tells us a bit more of the birth of Immortal Visions Paper Crafts:

“Immortal Visions was born when I decided to make my annual Christmas cards with a Neo-Victorian theme. They were a great hit with friends and family, so the following Valentine’s day I made Gothic, vampy cards and opened up shop on Etsy! I’m always looking for new ways to darkly redesign the traditional greeting cards and paper crafts I create.”

Today we are featuring one card with a Halloween theme of course 🙂 the Deluxe Haunted House & Cemetery Collage. It is one of the really pretty Halloween cards I ve seen out there 🙂 Love the colors and the die cuts 🙂

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Melissa shares her thoughts about this piece:

“The Haunted House and Cemetery Collage was made during a week inspired by Halloween scenes and settings. Using die-cuts, stamps and fabulous graveyard background paper, I tried to build a “photograph” of Halloween spookiness. I wanted a mysterious, whimsical silhouette for the house and think the swirly stamping is my favorite part of the piece”

For all dear tree friends that like Victorian and dark gothic themes you can pay a visit to Melissa’s shops and you can check her work on these links:

Greetings dear tree friends
This week I was a bit late for our top 10. I am sorry, but there are a lot of things going on in the Grove. It is a season of change. Just as autumn, sometime we have periods of our lives that are filled with change. It might be scary, especially when we are talking about major changes, but it doesn’t mean that it is a bad thing.

When a path reaches to its end another one takes its place. all we need to do is follow our intuition and chose where we want to go. Even if the path isn’t clear to us at first, it will be. I’ve always tried to walk to where my heart tells me to. It might have ended up in hardships, but through these hardships, I matured and grew up. Now, I’ve reached a point where I welcome change in my life. And the most important lesson that life reminds me at this point is that things might be very hard now, but life is a wheel it always changes. Bad times always give way to good ones, that’s the way it goes.

Autumn is a season of many changes. We say goodbye to the warm weather and the sun, but we welcome the rewards of the harvest. Apples, pears, corn and many other tasty gifts from the land 🙂 It is a time to prepare for winter, the time when mother earth rests. As we enjoy the fruits of the season everyone who is lucky to have a tree or two in their garden, must prepare to make some marmalade or preservatives of all the fruits that are left. So the last week I ve been boiling apples into apple butter. Still I have a lot of apples left but I will be sharing them with the neighbors 🙂
My house smells of apple sugar, nutmeg, and clover 🙂 This is one of the beautiful scents of autumn 🙂

The pumkins continue to grow and I am hoping for a good harvest 🙂 My plans are, of course Jack’O Lanterns, and a lot of pumpkin pies 😀

Now it is time to introduce you to the artist that visit today the Grove. She usually brings with her a lot of company. Little cute creatures that make any gloomy day a happy one 🙂 Kirsten Miller from Quernus Crafts is a very special person. I first met her online in 2009 (I think) when my sister introduced me to one of her wee creatures. I think it was Nick. I must admit that my first thought was ”awwww” I think everyone who is acquainted with Kirten’s work know exactly what I mean. At that point I was in Denmark and my sister was moody. So I thought to contact Kirsten and see if I could buy the little fellow and if she could send him to Greece. I had no idea how and if that was possible of course. That was the beginning of a great journey for me. For many reasons 🙂 I think Kirsten and Quernus Crafts opened the wonderful door of crafting for me. I am grateful that her work crossed my path especially since my life started to change back then 🙂

Kirsten is a polymer clay artist. She specializes in creating wee creatures out of polymer clay that will put a smile on your face no matter what. Made with lot of love and creative imagination, these little fellows have a life on their own. The practically ”speak” to you and of course they can be very mischievous so be careful 😛

So today these little meeces are visiting the Grove:

I love them! you can see in this photo how playful and cute they can be 🙂 A perfect piece to bring out the fun of the season. Not everything is scary at Hallow’s Eve. Kirsten shares her thoughts about them: “I particularly enjoy making animals that interact with their environment, and the mice are the most versatile at doing this. These little pumpkins were made by Louise of Dinky Delights (http://dinkydelights.blogspot.co.uk/), and when I saw them, I know that the mice just had to play in them!”

A big thank you to Kirsten and the wee creatures that visited my blog today 🙂 I enjoyed their company very much 🙂 A big thank you to all my dear tree friends for visiting and reading. Many hugs to you all

Greetings once more dear tree friends
Saturday today and as usual we will continue counting weeks and days till Hallow’s Eve. 1st of September today and autumn is definitely in the air. The pumpkins I’ve planted i spring are startig to get really big. Soon the time will come when they will be ready for harvest, cooking and carving 🙂

Speaking of carving I did a bit of research to see how this tradition came to pass. It is really interesting. The carving of jack-o’-lanterns springs from the Christian souling custom of carving turnips into lanterns as a way of remembering the souls held in purgatory. The turnip has traditionally been used in Ireland and Scotland at Halloween, but immigrants to North America used the native pumpkin, which is both much softer and much larger – making it easier to carve than a turnip. Subsequently, the mass marketing of various size pumpkins in autumn, in both the corporate and local markets, has made pumpkins universally available for this purpose. The American tradition of carving pumpkins is recorded in 1837 and was originally associated with harvest time in general, not becoming specifically associated with Halloween until the mid-to-late 19th century.

The prac­tice ori­gin­ated from an Irish myth about a man nick­named “Stingy Jack” who invited the Devil to have a drink with him and then didn’t want to pay for his drink. It’s a long story, but the bot­tom line is that Jack tricked the Devil into climb­ing up a tree to pick a piece of fruit. While the devil was up in the tree, Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree’s bark so that the he could not come down until he prom­ised not to bother Jack for ten more years. Soon there­after, Jack died and God would not allow such an unsa­vory fig­ure into heaven. The Devil, upset by the trick Jack had played on him and keep­ing his word not to claim his soul, would not allow Jack into hell. So Jack was con­demned to wander the earth between heaven and hell with only a burn­ing piece of coal in a carved out turnip to light his way. (Sources wiki & Gothic Gourds ).

The reason I was talking about pumpkins is the item that I will be featuring today! A very special bracelet with gorgeous beadwork only by Catrin Maier of Cat’s Wire. I met Cat a year ago through her amazing copper wire sculptures. Of course since I am sculpting wire into trees her page caught my attention immediately. I soon found out that Cat is a very talented artist that makes jewelry and sculptures with various techniques. In her own words:

“I like to say that the tagline for my business is “Anything goes”. I make jewelry and little sculptures. The techniques I use are wire crochet, wire knit (also done with a crochet hook), bead looming and more rarely these days spool knitting or work with polymer clay. I also like to combine those techniques to create unique pieces, often one of a kind. My main materials are copper (in different colors) and silver wire, beads and cabochons and polymer clay. Anything goes” refers to the kind of pieces I make. One day I feel like making something elegant, other days I prefer a casual style, sometimes my pieces are whimisical and sometimes outright silly, but so much fun!”

The piece that I chose from her beautiful work today is her beadwork bracelet of Jack The Pumpkin King from Tim Burton’s A Nightmare Before Christmas. I do love that movie. It is one of my favorites cause it combines 2 of my favorite holidays, Christmas and Halloween. It is a very smart concept with beautiful music and great animation. As a character Jack embodies everything Halloween stands for. He is spooky, witty, funny, smart and innocent at heart.

Jack Bracelet by Cat’s Wire

Cat shares her thoughts with us about this particular piece :

“I have always been a fan of Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare before Christmas” and particularly dear to my heart are Jack Skellington and his dog Zero. A while ago my bead looming group announced a three color challenge. At first I wanted to make a geometrical pattern. I’m not even sure how Jack crept into my thoughts, but once he was there, he didn’t get out. He was so perfect, too. All in black and white and just a murky looking background was all I needed – and an idea how to fit him onto a bracelet with his long arms and legs!

This is one of my wider cuffs and I re-weaved all warp threads, so Jack took me a while even though there are not many colors, but I still think it was worth it. I just wish I could have fitted Zero on there as well, but that would probably have meant turning the cuff into a sleeve. You know I think I just had another idea to put on my looooong project list.”

I must admit I love this bracelet. It is a great craftmanship and I can’t wait to see what Cat has in store for us in the future. You can find Cat’s work on

Hello dear tree friends
I hope this Saturday treats you well. Here autumn is coming.. The days are shorter and there is a slight chill in the air. Summer is leaving the lands of Denmark.. Apples have started going red, the pumpkins outside are swelling and soon enough they will be ready to be harvested. The nature prepares for autumn..
Soon enough we ll be seeing amazing colors of orange, red, brown and gold. It is an exciting time and a scary time as well 🙂
There is no doubt. Hallow’s Eve is coming..
This is a time to work and harvest and on Halloween to thank mother nature for all that she has given us. A time to say ”Meet you next year” . It is also a time that is considered that the spirit world is very close to our own. Time for the dark fairies and witches to roam. It is said that if you see a spider on Hallow’s Eve it means that it is the spirit of a loved one watching over you.

On this Saturday we are featuring a lovely artist. One of my very favorites. Pat Longmuir from Patsparaphernalia. I came across Pat’s work one and a half year ago and I was mesmerized by her fairy doors. I love the colors she is using which are perfect for the particular theme doors she creates. Pat is a very talented artist and her portfolio does ot stop on fairy doors. In her own words: “I’ve been an artist for as long as I could hold a pencil and a polymer clay artist for about 20 years, selling my work through craft fairs and online in the UK on Folksy. Having recently retired from the craft fair circuit, I now have more time to devote to drawing, painting and creating things that I enjoy. I hope that my work will give others some enjoyment as well.I love fantasy books and folk music and I hope that some of this comes through in the things I create. We all need a little fantasy and tradition in our lives I think!”

For the Halloween top 10 I chose to share with all of you this gorgeous dark fairy door. A portal to another world that happens to be rather close on Hallow’s Eve.

Pat shares her thoughts with us about her creation: “A lot of the inspiration for that particular door came from my love of Gothic romance, vampire novels of Ann Rice and because I am a pretty scary woman anyway! I imagined it belonging to a little Goth fairy with a wicked sense of humour and a love of the macabre, hehe! I think that is the kind of fairy I would be…”

There is always something beautiful in Pat’s page and shop. From colorful polymer clay creations and beautifully made felt bags to lovely paintings, there is something for all of us to admire or obtain as our own 🙂
You can find Pat on her Facebook Page. Follow her amazing work there and keep yourself posted on her newest creations. 🙂

Or you can visit her Etsy Shop and Folksy Shop if you wish to have one of her gorgeous creations 🙂 Trust me you won’t be disappointed 🙂

A big thank you to Pat for letting me feature her work on my blog 🙂
If you wish to see all the posts related to the top 1os and the previous entries please click here

Thank you all for being with us this Saturday and I hope you ll have a wonderful weekend 🙂 Stay safe dear friends and enjoy the changing of the season 🙂 Till next time, don’t forget to dream 🙂

This year’s Gothic Fairy Door. Can be found on Pat’s shops. Just follow the links above.

Today as I’ve already mentioned on a previous post, is the first day of the first top 10. The top 10s are created as a thank you to all artists out there that have made me feel good with their stunning work. Artists that deserve recorgnition and to spread the word about their fabulous work!

The first top 10 has a Halloween theme. To me Hallow’s Eve is a very special holiday. It was never celebrated in Greece (my homeland), but I ve always been drawn to it. I like the dark theme and the fact that it is a seasonal holiday. Nowadays it has become somewhat commercialized, but is we look back we will see the meaning of this holiday.

One of the many facts, did you know that : The Halloween holiday is commonly thought to have pagan roots, even though the etymology of the word is Christian. Historian Nicholas Rogers, exploring the origins of Halloween, notes that while “some folklorists have detected its origins in the Roman feast of Pomona, the goddess of fruits and seeds, or in the festival of the dead called Parentalia, it is more typically linked to the Celtic festival of Samhain, derived from the Old Irish Samuin meaning “summer’s end”. Samhain was the first and the most important of the four quarter days in the medieval Irish and Scottish calendar and, falling on the last day of autumn, it was a time for stock-taking and preparation for the cold winter months ahead. There was also a sense that this was the time of year when the physical and supernatural worlds were closest and magical things could happen. To ward off these spirits, the Gaels built huge, symbolically regenerative bonfires and invoked the help of the gods through animal and perhaps even human sacrifice. In the Western Isles of Scotland the Sluagh, or fairy host was regarded as composed of the souls of the dead flying through the air, and the feast of the dead at Hallowe’en was likewise the festival of the fairies. (source taken from wikipedia)

So today I will be featuring a lovely woman who I am very happy to know her work. Gemma Burton of Autumnal Skies, has a unique and elegant style in her handmade jewelry. Lovely seasonal themes, bind together with love. Autumnal Skies is a crafting business that started on October 2011, but Gemma tells us that she has been creating jewelry for some years. In her own words: ”I started making jewellery though making presents for friends, and slowly people started asking me to make things for them – and so Autumnal Skies was started! I’ve always loved Autumn and feel very inspired by the rich colours that come through at this time of the year. I’m also inspired by elegance – particularly in semi-precious stones – and I’m developing a new line using these materials.”

One of the first items I saw on her wonderful page, was a jack-o’-lantern bracelet. I loved it. It was simple, yet so cute and expressed one of the main themes of Hallow’s Eve in a lovely way. Gemma says about this piece:

”The jack-o’-lantern bracelet was the result of an experiment to see how I could use chain and leather to give a more ‘Gothic’ feel to the jewellery I was trying to create for the Hallowe’en season. Made using pumpkin charms, chain, and orange and black seed beads on eye-pins threaded onto a length of leather, this was definitely a good experiment!”

Through the last year Gemma’s work has improved quite a lot. She never seize to amaze me with most of her pieces. From colorful jewelry that catch the eye to gorgeous glass charms, for these special dinners, Autumnal Skies is here for you with a wide selection to choose from. If you have a special idea, or color in mind you can always contact Gemma for some custom work. She is a lovely helpful person and you will have a wonderful experience while contacting her.

If you are interesting in obtaining one of her items, feel free to visit her shop. You can find it on Etsy, or Folksy

A big thank you to Gemma for sending me the info and photos of today’s post 🙂

I truly enjoyed writing it and I hope all of you enjoyed reading it 🙂
Be well and have a lovely weekend dear tree friends! And remember next Saturday we ll be featuring another artist on the Hallow’s Eve top 10!

Till then ride your brooms and set off to the wonderful colors of Autumnal Skies!!

For some time now, I’ve had an idea in my mind for some days now. I am glad to see that slowly it becomes a reality. At the end I was a bit worried that I could not make this happen.

So today, I was feeling a bit down. All person’s lives have their ups and downs. It is all a part of nature. Through the hard times though there are always things that help us and give us hope. To me, one of them is creating. So I put a movie on (I usually work while watching a fantasy movie) and start working on a small tree. I played a bit with pardo clay as well for some embellishments that I am thinking of using. I am not yet certain that they will be a part of the piece that I m thinking, but it is better to be prepared.

In a few days I will be receiving on the post the last think I need to finish the piece I am thinking and I will reveal it to you then. For now here is a photo of a sneak preview. And yes, all creatures and trees in the grove are very excited about the autumn and winter that will be coming soon..

Have a great evening/day dear tree friends and wherever you are, however you feel, find in your mind the perfect sanctuary and keep in mind that our lives is a constant change. Bad things may happen, but always remember that as the wheel turns and things change, as the seasons come and go, so our hard times leave us and good times always come to us..

One copper wire tree in 2 different lightings and some holy I made with pardo clay

Hello once again dear tree friends 🙂
Today I would like to say a few words about an exciting category I will be featuring on my blog.

Drømme Lund has been online and near all of you for a bit more than one year now. In this time I have been introduced to some wonderful fellow crafters and their amazing work. I would like to spread on the word of their work and pages, so I decided to make some themed lists to show off their wonderful creations.

The first theme will be Halloween. Be prepared to see some spooky, gothic, wonderful art that will definitely decorate and enchant your home 🙂 Witches, Jack O’ Lanterns, and much more will be featured in my blog the next weeks. Every Saturday I will be featuring one item I love from a specific artist.

Stay tuned for the no 10 on the list will be walking the paths of the Dreamy Grove on the 18th of August. The crafter’s name is Gemma Burton from Autumnal Skies 😀